My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Results tagged ‘ Gary Matthews Jr. ’

The Phillies lose their fifth game in a row in spite of a good start by Cole Hamels as the Phillies’ bats are unable to get just one clutch hit as they fall again to the Angels, 3-2. Hamels would give up all of the Angels’ runs in the top of the second inning as he first gives up a RBI single to Gary Matthews Jr., scoring Vladimir Guerrero, who has earlier singled, and then moved to second on Torii Hunter’s ground out to first, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead. Hamels would then give up a two-run home run to Casey Kotchman, his eighth home run of the year, off of the Bud Light sign in right field, to make it 3-0 Angels. That would be all of the runs that the Angels would need, as Jered Weaver pitched well enough to keep himself out of any major trouble, although giving up a RBI single to Ryan Howard in the third, knocking in Chase Utley, who has earlier doubled, as he breaks an 0-24 slump, to make it a 3-1 Angels’ lead. The Phils would later cut the Angels’ lead down to 3-2 in the seventh, when with Carlos Ruiz on second, after getting on base with a walk and then moving to second on Pedro Feliz’s ground out, Jimmy Rollins would knock him in with a RBI double. But that would be it, as first Scot Shields and then Francisco Rodriguez would keep the Phils scoreless from that point, although the Phils would threaten to tie the score in the ninth, as Rodriguez records his thirtieth save of the year.

Cole Hamels takes the hard lost as he has a quality start, going seven innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits. His record is now 7-5 with a 3.27 ERA. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge would each pitch an inning, giving up no runs apiece on three hits. Jered Weaver would get the victory, evening his record as he goes five and one third innings, giving up an earned run on four hits. His record is now 7-7 with a 4.56 ERA. Darren Oliver would pitch an inning, giving up an earned run on one hit. Scot Shields would pitch one and two-thirds innings, giving up no runs on no hits. Francisco Rodriguez would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on one hit as he records his thirtieth save of the season.

The Phillies’ offense would waste another good performance by one of their starters as they would get only six hits off of Angels’ pitching, as they are once again unable to get a clutch hit, inspite of Charlie Manuel actually shaking up the lineup to try and get something going. The Phillies were 1-5 on the home stand, battling from behind in all three of their games with the Angels. They will have the day off tomorrow as they get ready to head for the west coast to play the Athletics in Oakland for three games. The Phillies will be trying to figure out what they are doing wrong right now before they get ready to meet another good American League team on Tuesday.

With the lost, the Phillies (42-35) still have a full game lead over the Marlins, as they have just lost to the A’s in Oakland. Their lead over the Mets is presently three and a half games, as they have just defeated the Rockies in Denver. The Braves are now trailing them by four games as they’d defeated the Mariners at home. The Phillies will be heading to Oakland and try to figure out what they will now have to do to once again increase their lead in the National League East.

The Phillies have now lost their fourth game in a row, as well as their fourth straight series, as Brett Myers loses once again as he gives up three more home runs for his league leading twenty-first through -third home run as the Phils’ lose, 6-2. Two of the home runs that were given up by Myers went to Phillies’ killer Vladimir Guerrero. The first one was hit in the fourth inning, for his twelfth home run of the year to give the Angels a quick 1-0 lead. The second one would be hit in the seventh, for his thirteenth home run of the year, to make it 2-0 Angels. In between, Myers and Angels’ starter Joe Saunders would be involved in a pitchers’ duel, with Myers keeping the Angels’ bats off-balance with his curveball and change up, while Saunders would keep the Phils’ off the basepath. The Phillies would then tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, when, with two outs, Jayson Werth would hit his tenth home run of the season to make the score 2-1 Angels. After Chris Coste gets on base with a walk, Pedro Feliz would hit a RBI double, scoring Coste, tying the game at two all. Eric Bruntlett would follow with a single to center, but Feliz is held up at third by the third base coach, not realizing that Gary Matthews Jr. would bobble the ball in center field, nor that his throw towards home would be offline and then be cut off by the first baseman. Casey Kotchman would then throw the ball to second to cut down Bruntlett, who has been running towards second, believing that the ball has gone to home plate, who would then be tagged out by shortstop Erick Aybar. But, Myers would be unable to keep it tied in the eighth, as, with two men out, and a runner on first, would give up his third home run of the night, a two-run shot to Aybar, his second home run of the year, scoring Chone Figgins, who has earlier got on base with a single, making it 4-2 Angels. The Angels would then add a couple of insurance runs in the ninth, as with one out, Matthews Jr., who has reached base after being hit by the pitch, would score on a Juan Rivera fielder’s choice ground out, giving the Angels a 5-2 lead. Figgins would then hit a RBI single, scoring Jeff Mathis, making it 6-2 Angels. The Phillies would then attempt a comback in their half of the ninth as their first two men would get on base via walks. But the Angels would then send in Francisco Rodriquez, who would get the final three outs via a double play ground ball and a pop out, to record his twenty-ninth save of the season.

Brett Myers would take the lost as he goes seven and two-thirds innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits while striking out seven, as he pitches a good game until he ran into trouble in the eighth. His record is now 3-9 with a ERA of 5.51. J.C. Romero would pitch a third of an inning in relief, giving up no runs on no hits. Chad Durbin would pitch an inning, giving up two earned runs on one hit. Joe Saunders would get the victory as he pitches seven innings, giving up only two earned runs on five hits. Scot Shields would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Jose Arredondo would only face two batters, walking both. Francisco Rodriguez would go an inning, giving up no runs on no hits, as he records his twenty-ninth save of the season

The Phillies have now lost their fourth straight game and their fourth straight series as their lead in the National League shrinks down to one game. The offense seems to have been put on hold while Myers is still giving up gopher balls in the games that he starts which is killing him, despite him pitching a whole lot better than he has in his last few games. It seems to me that Charlie Manuel needs to call a team meeting and read these guys the riot act, just do something to get the bat smoking once again, else they are soon going to be seeing the young Marlins running in front of them and not following them in their rear view mirror.

The Phillies’ (42-34) weekend series with the Angels (45-30, 1st American League West) will end tomorrow afternoon. The game will start at 1:35 pm at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils will be sending to the mound their ace Cole Hamels (7-4, 3.23), who is coming off of his excellent outing against the BoSox on June 16, where he would pitch seven innings, giving up only two runs on seven hits in the Phillies’ 8-2 victory. He will be trying to end the Phils’ present four game losing streak as he goes for a team leading eighth victory of the year. The Angels will send to the mound Jered Weaver (6-7, 4.73), who is coming off a lost to the Mets on June 16, as he would pitch six and one-third innings, giving up six earned runs on eight hits, in the Angels’ 9-6 lost. He will be trying to even his record while hoping to keep the anxious Phillies’ bats quiet.

The Phillies’ lead over the Marlins is now down to one game as they won their game with the Athletics. The Phillies are still leading the Mets by four and a half games, as they lost to the Rockies. Their lead over the Braves is now down to five games, thanks to the Braves’ victory over the Mariners. The Phillies will be trying to regain their winning way while trying to leave for Oakland on a positive note.

The first place Phillies (42-32) will be facing Gary Matthews, Jr and the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim (43-30, 1st American League West) at Citizens Bank Park for a three games weekend series. The first game of the home stand will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies will be sending to the mound Adam Eaton (2-4, 4.57), who is coming off his fifth straight quality start, although losing to the Cardinals on June 14, as he would pitch six and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs on nine hits, in the Phillies’ 3-2 lost. In those five starts, he is 2-1 with a no-decision, which the Phils won, pitching a combined total of thirty-two and a third innings, giving up eleven earned runs on thirty-two hits. Eaton will be trying for his sixth straight quality start while trying to get his third win of the season to help the Phillies to once again put some distance between them and their opponents in the National League East. The Angels will counter with Ervin Santana (8-3, 3.40), who is coming off a lost to the Braves on June 14, where would only go five and two-thirds innings, giving up six earned runs on nine hits, in the Angels’ 9-4 lost. He will once again be looking for his ninth win while trying to dominate the Phils’ bats.

This will be the first time that Sarge’s son will make an appearance at Citizens Bank Park, where he will be watched by his father from the broadcast booth. The Phillies’ offense will be trying to get back on the winning track, hopefully with the batters being a bit more patient at the plate and being a lot more consistant in runs production. Also, Chase Utley will be trying to break out of his present 0-20 slump which has caused his batting average to dip under .300 (.294), twenty-fourth best in the NL. Although he is still leading the league in home runs with twenty-two, he is now third in RBIs with sixty-two, fourth in runs scored with fifty-six, eleventh in hits with eighty-three and sixth in slugging percentage (.606). The Phils will need him to get back to being able to get hits and knock in runs for the offense to get going again.

The Phillies’ lead in the National League East is now at two games as the second place Marlins head to Oakland for a three games series with the Athletics. They are presently leading the now third place Mets by five and a half games as they go to Denver for a three games weekend series with the Rockies. The now fourth place Braves, thanks to their lost to the Angels yesterday afternoon, trail the Phillies by six games as they get ready to play host to the Seattle Mariners for a three game series. The Phillies, as they try to win their first series since their sweep of the Braves, hope that the rest of their division will do poorly against their opponents this weekend.

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